Sentell Unmudbucker pickup

[clankenstein]

I had thought of converting the tone control on a EB0 to progressively adding an earth to the centre junction of the 2 coils, that way you would be dialing the sound more towards single coil as it went.Never got around to trying it though.

[Grog]

Would it work to wind it similar to a Hobbit pickup (with 8 wires coming out of it) & add a three position switch to it?

[Granny Gremlin]

Like so you could have (e.g. only 2 pos vs 3) full mud and underwound? Sure.  Bit of a delicate job, that, but certainly possible.     The more taps, the more difficult (expensive). Dunno who would agree to do it, but possible.

Grog's progressive bleed to ground idea makes me worry about hum; those are huge coils.  Wasn't there someone here who actually tried coil tapping a mudbucker?

[Dave W]

I don't know what any of those things might wind up sounding like, and I don't want my mudbucker to be the guinea pig. 

Grog's comment about Hobbit wiring jogged my memory. The Hobbit is wound with much thicker wire. The Curtis Novak Fatbucker (mudbucker replacement) also uses thicker wire. But I don't particularly like the sound of it. Not bad, but not something I'd spend over $200 on. He also makes a couple of Darkstar versions to fit a mudbucker rout but I've never cared for that sound.

[amptech]

Like so you could have (e.g. only 2 pos vs 3) full mud and underwound? Sure.  Bit of a delicate job, that, but certainly possible.     The more taps, the more difficult (expensive). Dunno who would agree to do it, but possible.

Grog's progressive bleed to ground idea makes me worry about hum; those are huge coils.  Wasn't there someone here who actually tried coil tapping a mudbucker?

Yes, coil tapped one for the '58 explorer bass I built. Not sure if I posted, had so many projects at a certain point. I did do Insta posts of it. It works, but I don't think I ever really needed to switch between these different textures - when I do coil taps for experiment I nearly always ditch the switch (!) when I'm certain of wich position is best sounding. A slightly unwound (or as Dave pointed out, wound with thicker wire/more turns) works like a charm and that's all it takes. It's great as a single too, one coil earthed, but yes it hums and needs extra shielding.

Adding a coil tap only adds about 45 seconds to the winding process; solder a small wire on, tape it or nailpolish it, secure the wire with tape - and off you go. But setting up the machine for mudbucker and actually winding it does take much more time than a strat singlecoil!

[doombass]

I don't know what any of those things might wind up sounding like, and I don't want my mudbucker to be the guinea pig. 

The Curtis Novak Fatbucker (mudbucker replacement) also uses thicker wire. But I don't particularly like the sound of it. Not bad, but not something I'd spend over $200 on. He also makes a couple of Darkstar versions to fit a mudbucker rout but I've never cared for that sound.

Speaking of Novak, has anyone tried this one or found soundclips?: http://curtisnovak.com/pickups/EB-BSx2.shtml
I'd say it's expensive (almost to the point of silly) for one pickup but there might be some nice options for those who like the Bisonics.

[Dave W]

Speaking of Novak, has anyone tried this one or found soundclips?: http://curtisnovak.com/pickups/EB-BSx2.shtml
I'd say it's expensive (almost to the point of silly) for one pickup but there might be some nice options for those who like the Bisonics.

Not yet. There is a demo of the EB-BS which has only the single coil Darkstar/Bisonic mode, it doesn't sound good to me at all and it doesn't sound like a Bisonic or Darkstar.

[Granny Gremlin]

The Bisonic/DS have as very specific construction with the dual pole pieces (e.g. those weird butress arms) and huge flat magnet that I do not see at all on the Novak EB-DS, so I would expect it to not really sound similar... except that Novak is very aware of this and actually makes proper Bisonic copies (seems a bit deep to me, as in, wouldn't fit all the basses people put dark stars in but hey, it looks the part):



vs Darkstar (which, from what I recall, I could never tell apart from an actual Bisonic):



In fact there have been a few iterations of his EB-DS so possibly some sound better/closer than others, like this early one I doubt is anything similar (also maybe just single coil):



But now thjey have 2 extra rows of (dummy?) poles:

[Dave W]

Hard to know his thinking. If it's not constructed like a Bisonic, it's not going to sound the same.

[doombass]

But now thjey have 2 extra rows of (dummy?) poles:

I don'y think they're dummies. That pickup is supposed to be dual Bisonics so you can have a humbucking effect. But like Dave said, those two single coils does'nt look like they are identical construction to a Bisonic so they would'nt sound the same. Maybe at least similar?

[Granny Gremlin]

I don'y think they're dummies. That pickup is supposed to be dual Bisonics so you can have a humbucking effect. But like Dave said, those two single coils does'nt look like they are identical construction to a Bisonic so they would'nt sound the same. Maybe at least similar?

Yes but 3 rows of pole pieces, but only 2 coils means... ?

Also yeah, that was my point; how much like a bisonic can these sound without that specific construction.  Similar at best.

[slinkp]

The middle ones must be dummies, no? There's no windings around them?

[Dave W]

Yes but 3 rows of pole pieces, but only 2 coils means... ?

Also yeah, that was my point; how much like a bisonic can these sound without that specific construction.  Similar at best.

The middle ones must be dummies, no? There's no windings around them?

These are his mudbucker replacements. The middle row of screws are there to attach the chrome cover to the body.

He does make a separate Bisonic style that looks like the original Bisonic construction.

[Alanko]

Hard to know his thinking. If it's not constructed like a Bisonic, it's not going to sound the same.

Bisonics aren't that unusual, in fairness. The coil in them is quite small, like a Strat pickup really, with two big-but-thin Alnico magnets on the back to power it. Remove the weird and wonderful pole adjustment mechanism and art deco aesthetic, and the thing is basically a four-pole P90 pickup with a slightly unusual laminated core in the middle of the coil.

In a world with ultra modern and efficient amplification and cabs, it makes sense to leave mudbuckers as they are! Let the rest of the rig take the strain.

[Dave W]

Bisonics aren't that unusual, in fairness. The coil in them is quite small, like a Strat pickup really, with two big-but-thin Alnico magnets on the back to power it. Remove the weird and wonderful pole adjustment mechanism and art deco aesthetic, and the thing is basically a four-pole P90 pickup with a slightly unusual laminated core in the middle of the coil.

In a world with ultra modern and efficient amplification and cabs, it makes sense to leave mudbuckers as they are! Let the rest of the rig take the strain.

That's like saying it's the same, but different!    It's not that simple, as I'm sure Rick Turner would tell you.

I'm not a fan, but if someone wants to hide a Bisonic under a mudbucker cover, okay by me.

Even the original Ric horseshoe had a simple small coil. There's a lot more to the tone circuit than that.